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You might live in a rural community if the Friday night football game was interrupted by a dog running across the field and the Sunday morning post on Nextdoor.com is trying to locate the owner of some cows hanging out by the side of the road.

Photo Source: whnt.com and nextdoor.com

When I arrived in Indiana, I realized my destination was near several Amish communities. There are approximately 1,000 Amish families living in Daviess County, Indiana.

The Amish people in Daviess County operate several business, such as craft shops, furniture stores, fabric/quilt shops, and food stores. They speak Dutch German as their first language and English as their second language. The Amish population work hard to maintain their heritage and values of hard word, simplicity, and family relationships.

While I was there, I visited the Amish communities and shops. I was also able to speak with a few of the Amish people. I asked questions about their culture and belief system. Everyone I spoke with was nice and willing to answer my questions.

“The constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” Benjamin Franklin

This documentary is available on Netflix. It takes an in depth look at what makes people happy and how we can improve our own happiness.

Here are a few things from the documentary that I found to be interesting:

Dopamine is a chemical in the brain and it is a neurotransmitter that makes us feel happy. Physical activity releases dopamine, so engaging in exercise is a natural mood booster.

Events have a limited impact on our happiness. When something good happens, we may feel ecstatic. However, those feelings will dissipate quickly. When something bad happens, we may feel devastation, but those feelings will also dissipate.

A key ingredient to happiness is being able to recover from adversity quickly.

Once our basic needs are meet, an increase in income has a limited affect on our level of happiness.

You will always be able to find somebody that has more money than you or that has something you don’t have. A constant desire for more will have a negative impact on our happiness.

The more people focus on money and image the less happy they feel.

The more people focus on relationships, personal development, and community service the happier they feel.

Changing your focus from what you don’t have to what you do have that you can share, will promote happiness.

The building blocks of happiness are play, new experiences, and relationships.

In this section of scripture, we read about how Jesus healed a woman that suffered for twelve years with a discharge of blood, restored a girl to life, healed two blind men, healed a man unable to speak, taught in the synagogues, and proclaimed the gospel. We also learn Jesus felt compassion for the crowds, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.

The section ends with Jesus saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (ESV)

There is so much suffering in the world, it’s easy for me to get discouraged and feel like I can never make a difference. However, I can do my best to help those in my sphere of influence and pray for God to send help to those I will never encounter.

I can’t bring peace to the world, but I can promote peace in my home.

I can’t stop the destruction of our planet, but I can change my behavior to promote cleanliness and responsible consumption.

I can’t feed all the hungry people in the world, but I can help my local food bank.

I can’t talk to everyone I encounter and ask them what they need, but I can hold the door open, give a complement, or do other acts of kindness that will brighten their day.

I completed the Photoshop 2 class at the Huntsville Madison County Public Library this afternoon. I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot of new things to improve my Photoshop skills.

Public libraries are an underutilized resource in most communities. They offer free educational classes, children’s programs, homework help, book clubs, and all sorts of other benefits to the community.

Have you been to the library lately and if so what do you like most about your public library?